Martin Jacques Quotes

Ferraris are lovely cars, but I just don't want to be seen in them.

I was worried that in London I would be judged for who I know rather than what I do. In New York, I am known for fashion.

You don't buy luxury to enter a community, but to set yourself apart from others.

I am a Ford, not a Lincoln.

It’s not what you are that counts; it’s what people think you are.

Consumers do not want a perceived cheap car; they want a car to flaunt. A car is as much about status and identity as it is about transport.

A watch shows how you want to look - or how you want people to look at you.

It’s not what you are that counts, it’s what they think you are.

People assume that I'm an aristocrat, but I don't really feel part of any class.

I don't know that any of us can control our own image. We are what other people see.

The super-rich watch each other like envious owls, to see who's got a slightly better loafer, a pullover made from some even more absurdly endangered fur. They will go to any lengths to find the best tailors.

I didn't buy the Porsche for status. I hate that, and it's actually kind of goofy now because in L.A., a Porsche is like a Honda. It was just that I could pay that much money for a car and drive it off the lot.

When you have a name that means scares, you have to live with that.

I really don't know that I'm iconic. I don't even know that people think I'm cool.

In New York, appearance is a form of currency or, at the very least, a calling card. One must look wealthy in order to be recognised as a person of worth.

I've always been the popular one in my school, in my town. Everyone always knew who I was.

It's impossible to tell how you're perceived. I think it's important not to think about it too much, because it really means nothing. Some people think we're a rock band, and that's ridiculous, and the idea of us being a folk band - you sit in a pub in Ireland and hear those guys play, and you're like, 'Yeah, we're definitely not a folk band.'

Have you driven a Rolls-Royce? There is a difference between a Rolls-Royce and a Nano.

Luxury is not a $4,000 T-shirt - that's just an expensive item, the same as if a can of Coca-Cola cost $5,000.

Luxury cannot afford to intimidate.

China is a very brand-intensive society. The reason that brands are so very important is that they are a way to signal social status.

If you're holding your iPhone, and it's the newest iteration of it, you're like, 'Oh, famous people have my phone. Captains of industry have my phone.' And that can be an intoxicating experience for someone who is going off to college for the first time.

Being a billionaire is sort of passe.

I know that I'm often perceived as this odd guy who's a bit out there, and I've probably, once in a while, reinforced that image, but I'm really not that person, and, in a way, I want even less so to be seen like that.

I don't want people to think I'm a wrestler.